Buckie Thistle 1-1 Inverurie Locos

An injury time leveller from Josh Peters gave Buckie Thistle a point against an impressive Inverurie Locos outfit at Victoria Park.

Tam Reid had put Locos ahead just beyond the hour mark, but with time running out, Peters got on the end of a cross from Max Barry to glance home the equaliser.

Buckie manager Graeme Stewart made one change to the team that beat Banks o’ Dee, with Jack MacIver returning from injury to replace Marcus Goodall. Scott Adams and Hamish Munro were also back in the squad.

Peters smashed an early volley over the crossbar for the Jags, then Max Barry cut inside and saw his curling effort kept out by Locos keeper Zack Ellis.

MacIver’s excellent cross from the right saw Peters fire a good chance over from seven yards, but the offside flag had gone up against the Thistle hitman.

Fine play between Barry and MacAskill saw the former break into the area, only to be crowded out by the visiting defence on 28 minutes, then Buckie were screaming for a penalty after Keir’s cross appeared to be blocked by the arm of Mark Souter.

Myles Gaffney was proving a handful for the home defence and his hooked effort brought a decent save from Tom Ritchie, before Ellis made another save from Peters’ deflected shot at the other end.

The Locos number one made an even better save from Barry before the break, after a superb pass from MacAskill had set up the Jags midfielder just inside the penalty area.

Jay Halliday curled a good strike just beyond the post early in the second half, then Keir found MacIver in space on the left of the penalty area, but his blistering strike was blocked behind for a corner.

A MacIver corner was missed by Ellis just before the hour mark, but Jack Murray’s couldn’t force his effort home at the front post.

Locos took the lead on 63 minutes, a long free kick allowed to bounce as the home defenders claimed for a foul, and Tam Reid rifled a superb finish low beyond Ritchie into the bottom left corner.

Dale Wood made a vital clearance at the back post as the visitors threatened a killer second goal, then with 20 minutes remaining, Sam Morrison pulled down Gaffney as he raced clear and was shown a straight red by referee Mackinnon.

Manager Graeme Stewart responded by bringing on Ryan Fyffe for Jack MacIver, having replaced MacAskill with Scott Adams five minutes earlier.

Murray crashed a decent volley straight at Ellis from outside the box in the 80th minute, before Keir got in behind and his low strike was denied at his near post by the Locos keeper.

The Jags were pressing for an equaliser now and went to a bold 2-4-3 formation with Liam Harvey replacing Dale Wood.

Peters was denied again by Ellis from Murray’s ball over the top, Locos substitute Aidan Wilson then missing a great chance to wrap the game up when he miscued with only Ritchie to beat from 15 yards.

The leveller did come in the second minute of injury time, Barry firing a great ball across goal from the left and Peters throwing himself forward to head home from close range.

There was still time for Wilson to latch onto the impressive Cole Anderson’s ball over the top and bring a fine save from Ritchie with a low shot, but the game ended with honours even on the day.

It looks like there could be a few twists and turns to come in a captivating title race, the Jags facing another tough test on Wednesday evening with the visit of Formartine United.

Buckie Th: T. Ritchie; J. McCabe, S. Morrison, J. Murray, D. Wood (L. Harvey 81); S. Pugh (c), M. Barry; J. MacIver (R. Fyffe 72), A. MacAskill (S. Adams 67), L. Keir; J. Peters.

Subs not used: S. Knight, E. Storrier, L. Mackinnon, H. Munro, C. Ramsay, M. Goodall.

Scorer: J. Peters (90+2)

Sent off: S. Morrison (71)